


amnesia

by slytherinbxtch



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Bad Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ardyn is an ass, F/M, Final Fantasy XV Spoilers, Friendship, Multiple Endings, Original Character Death(s), Original Character-centric, Profanity, Song Inspired, Suicidal Thoughts, World of Ruin, daemon killing, original lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25372129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherinbxtch/pseuds/slytherinbxtch
Summary: a look into the world of ruin through the eyes of my final fantasy xv oc, calypso.trigger warning: blood, major character death, ardyn (he deserves a warning, it's ardyn), suicidal thoughts, daemons, major spoilers for the entire game, this thing is long as hell because i don't know when to stop writing
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**_ONE SECOND :_ **

**a scream tore from the blonde's lips as she watched** in horror. her best friend, her love, her prince was _gone._ she saw red, and only red. her sword was in her hand almost immediately as she rushed towards the culprit, towards the one person who'd ruined so much and caused everyone she loved so much suffering. _ardyn izunia._ she'd never trusted him, not for a minute. she knew better than to trust people who called themselves "inconsequential". she struck out at the man, only to find herself pulled back by a pair of strong arms. " _let me at him! let me fucking kill him! **let me go**!" _she screamed, voice raw with anger as she thrashed in an attempt to free herself. the arms held tighter, until she felt her will to fight leave her. in it's place was thick, deafening sadness. " _let me go... let me g-_ " her voice broke, a choked sob escaping her lips as she stopped thrashing. it was no use.... nothing she did could bring him back, no. nothing would change what had happened here today. slowly, whoever was holding her let go of her. she turned around, not caring who it was, and immediately hugged them, trying to hide her tears. " _he can't be gone... he promised me he'd be careful...."_ she mumbled. " _he promised..."_ her voice died down to nothing as she pulled away from the one she was hugging. she looked up to see familiar blue eyes and a head of blond hair. _prompto._ she smiled weakly in a very shitty attempt to maintain her normal, cool facade. she knew that the others could see right through it though. she stood in silence for a few moments, simply staring at the crystal. then... " _i failed him._ " fell from her lips. " _i had a job to do here, and i failed him. i wasn't quick enough. he'd still be here if i were just a little faster...._ " she turned away from the crystal and left, wanting to head home- wherever that would end up being...

_**TWENTY-FOUR HOURS :** _

**aranea's airship had been in the area when the group** entered zegnatus keep. the commodore had kept an eye out for anyone exiting the keep, and it just so happened that the group of four were the only ones to leave. they flew back to lestallum and had been in the city for about eighteen hours at that point. back in the hotel room where they'd stayed before they left for caem, the one they were in before heading to cauthess disc. she hadn't spoken a word since they arrived at the hotel, opting to instead sit in silence in the hopes of rebuilding the walls she kept around herself. she'd made almost no success; the hole that the loss of her best friend had left in the wall was too big to patch overnight. too big to patch at all was most likely the case. she'd need time to heal; time she highly doubted she would ever be afforded, now that the sun was gone forever. it had been thirty-six hours of night, so far. she doubted that the sun would ever rise again. she'd have to get used to the dark. she'd had people ask her how she was feeling that day; it seemed like forever since she'd been asked that. if she had wanted to answer them, she'd have said "fine, all things considered" or "none of your business", but those were both lies. for the first time in the history of her life, callie felt _numb_. most people assumed she didn't feel emotions most of the time- after all, she _was_ known as the ice queen in middle school and high school- but in reality, she felt deeply. she hid these emotions from those who didn't know her well, which had earned her the reputation of a cold, emotionless bitch. the whole trip, she had been wishing for things to go back to normal. only problem was, she didn't know what _normal_ was anymore. one thing she did know, however, was that ardyn would pay for tricking noctis into touching the crystal. her fists clenched into balls at her sides. _yes, ardyn was going to pay for this...._

**_ONE WEEK :_ **

**on the third day of silence, she spoke. the others** were talking about going out on a hunt to go fight some demons and had asked callie if she wanted to join them. " _well, i'm gonna need some practice if i'm gonna make ardyn pay for this_ " had come from her mouth immediately. she turned to face the group and gave them the bravest smile she could muster. " _i'm with you guys, through and through. we're stronger together than we are apart._ " she'd said. and on that hunt, they'd proven just that. the four of them worked together as if they weren't missing a fifth link- a link that although he may have been a bit annoying at time had held them together through everything. they returned to the leville tired and worn out; it seemed the demons had gotten stronger since the light left eos. she'd held herself together for a week since her initial breakdown before something happened. it was the middle of the night, and she jolted awake. tears stung at the corner of her eyes and she stood from the couch, rushing into the bathroom. she closed the door behind her and slid down the wall, her head in her hands. quiet sobs racked her body as she tried in vain to calm herself down. she stayed that way, curled up with her knees against her chest and her back against the door, until she fell asleep again. she woke up what should have been the next morning back on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. later on when she made eye contact with gladio, she saw the concern there. she figured he was the one to find her. ignis wouldn't have seen her, though he would've been able to sense she was there, and prompto would've woken her up to see if she was ok; she was grateful that instead of questioning her and leaving her in an uncomfortable position, she'd been allowed to continue sleeping and had been moved back to the couch. _as long as i have the others, i'll be fine...._ she managed to convince herself that day.

_**ONE MONTH :** _

**oh, how naive she had been to think that the group** would stick together forever. everyone had their own priorities. gladio wanted to make sure that iris was fine and ignis didn't injure himself. ignis wanted to prove he was fine and could hunt without help. prompto wanted his best friend back and wanted the group to stay together. callie wanted the group to stay together, she wanted her best friend back, but above all she wanted _revenge_. after a month of living in the cramped hotel room, the four friends stood outside the hotel for what could be the last time. callie had managed to keep herself from crying for almost the entire time, but she could feel the tears threatening to spill. gladio and ignis were going to stay in lestallum, though they were moving to new places. prompto was going to head off to hammerhead to check in with cindy and see how one of the last inhabitable places was doing. callie was heading to wherever the road and her heart took her. after a semi-tearful goodbye, callie walked off to the bike cindy had given her a few weeks prior and climbed on. she waved to the others, a small smile on her face, and revved the engine before beginning to drive. she didn't look back, for if she looked back, she knew she would go back to lestallum and never leave the others' sides. she needed to go her own way, find the strength to continue within herself instead of relying on someone else to help her find it. she drove and drove for what seemed forever until she stopped her bike in front of a familiar path. _cape caem._ she turned the bike and drove up the path, parking right in front of the door to the old house. she turned off the engine and walked inside, bag slung over her back. she stood in the middle of the kitchen and closed her eye, imagining things as they were just over a month ago. chatter from various crownsguard members. the crash of the waves outside. laughter from the room upstairs she'd shared with her friends.... " _far enough away from most people for me to do what i need to do, but close enough to go check on cindy once a month...."_ she mumbled as she walked up the stairs to the room. " _guess this is home now_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 2 of 3  
> dates: one year through five years

**_ONE YEAR :_ **

**things had changed. weekly calls to the others** to check in became more and more rare, until they stopped about three months after callie had moved into the house in caem. of course, she still had her monthly check in with cindy. if there was one constant she could always count on, it was her trip to hammerhead. today, however, called for a different routine. something that she decided would be done on this very day every year until the darkness was lifted- _if_ the darkness was ever lifted, that is. that morning, she'd called the others and left them the same short message- " _if you need anything, i'll be at the forgotten pool"_ before hanging up. she got on her bike and drove, letting her hair blow in the wind behind her. she'd lost her helmet a while back, and didn't feeling like hunting down a new one. she was careful not to turn too sharply or drive too fast, but she got to her destination in a short time. she climbed off the bike and walked over to the lake, eyes catching on the dock in front of her. she smiled faintly at the memory of a night spent at a nearby haven; after the group ate, she'd been able to convince noctis to go hang out at the lake. initially, the prince had wanted to fish, but the two of them ended up sitting on the dock and just talking for a while until they were called back to camp because it was time to sleep. callie took a step onto the dock and walked to the edge, pulling off her shoes; she placed the clunky boots she wore on a daily basis down beside her and sat, dangling her feet in the water. she sat silently for a moment before taking a deep breath. she knew that if anyone else heard her, she'd sound absolutely insane. to be fair though, she hadn't been in the best place mentally for the past year.  
**"** _ **hey, noct. i don't know if you can hear me, wherever** you are, but i figured it's worth a shot. worst case scenario, you don't hear me. best case... you do, and you can talk to me when you come back." _she began. " _it's.... it's been a year since the sun came up for the last time. which means it's been a year since the last time i saw you... and a year since i told you how i feel._ " she laughed humorlessly. _"i miss you a lot; things aren't the same without you around. i don't see the guys very much. we stayed together for a month and then we all went our separate ways... sometimes prompto calls me to talk about a hunt he went on, or i get a text from gladio every few months to make sure i'm alive. i do talk to ignis sometimes, but he's been busy searching out some ruins; takes a hell of a lot to keep him down. and me... i've been trying to figure out what went wrong. why i wasn't able to stop the crystal from taking you. and i've been training too. i take hunts by myself, or sometimes i call iris and ask her to come help me..."_ she paused, not sure what to say next. " _i guess what i'm trying to say is that this place sucks without you here beside me. i... i really miss you. and i- uh... shit, why is this so hard to say? i literally told you how i feel, why does this have to be so hard?_ " she took a deep breath before she tried again. " _i love you, noct. i love you, and i can't wait to see you again. i don't care how long it takes for you to come back, i promise you, i'll be here to welcome you home._ " she knew she was crying. " _i hope you're safe, wherever you are. i'm just gonna spend some time here and chill. maybe fish a little bit like we tried to the night we went into costlemark. then again, that plan didn't really work out... gods, i'm rambling. sorry."_ she stopped talking after that and sat on the dock, pulling her knees to her chest. getting those thoughts out really helped; it was nice to speak as if someone was listening, even though she doubted that noctis could hear her. as she said, worth a shot.... she sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds around her. after a few hours, she stood and put her boots on and walked back towards the shore. she turned to face the lake for a second, feeling as if she should say something else. " _...i love you. please come back soon."_ she whispered, turning back to the shore and walking to her bike. she headed home, feeling better than she had in a year. she laid down in her bed when she arrived back at the house, and soon enough fell asleep. 

**_THREE YEARS :_ **

**things were more or less the same ever since the darkness** fell over eos. callie would wake up at what her phone told her was seven am and she'd get dressed. she'd eat whatever food she'd managed to find the day before or whatever she'd bought from her last trip into either lestallum or hammerhead, then stretch and go out and hunt for a bit. sometime it was an easy hunt like a few flan that sprang up from the ground in front of the house (for some reason, they were there almost every single morning) or a mindflayer. other times, she wanted a challenge and would stalk into the wilds of the cleigne region to see what she could come across. on this particular day, she decided to challenge herself. she climbed on her bike and drove off into the direction of the alstor slough; she hadn't been to the area in a while and decided to see what she could hunt around there. she wouldn't take on any of the hunters bounties that day, as she sometimes preferred to hunt on her own instincts instead of being told what to fight. luckily for her, she had managed to find a red giant. feeling confident about her ability to take down the daemon after three years of nonstop hunting, she decided to fight it. she'd fought them before with the others prior to the light disappearing and knew how much of a challenge it was for them to take down even with five of them; hell, the night they were in costlemark tower and ended up fighting like seven red giants, callie almost died from the sheer amount of times she was launched in the air by the daemon.   
**she smirked and summoned her gunblade to her hand, feeling** the familiar weight. she took a deep breath before running at the giant, swiping for the back of its kneecaps. she managed to make contact and felt herself laughing as she heard the giant cry out. she couldn't help but roll her eyes as the giant lumbered towards her. " _come at me, you big red bastard!_ " she taunted, standing in her place, though she was ready to run at a moment's notice. the giant took a step towards the girl and swung its sword. the swing was slow and wide, giving callie more than enough time to jump out of the way and run behind the giant. she slashed at any exposed skin she could reach before deciding to charge the giant head on. _big mistake._ she didn't have enough time to move out of the way and ended up getting whacked with the flat of the giant's blade. she flew backwards, a hiss escaping her mouth as she hit the ground. shifting her weight in order to stand up hurt badly. she staggered to her feet and cried out at the sharp pain that filled her ankle. _fight now, worry about your ankle later..._ she thought, hobbling towards the giant. she managed to swing her sword but was a few feet short of hitting. this time, she could do nothing but look on in horror as the giant swung it's sword above her head and slammed it towards her. she barely managed to move out of the way, the blade slamming into the ground where she stood just seconds ago. rocks kicked up, one hitting her hard in the head. she winced and stumbled almost blindly to a rock for cover. she felt the blade slam against her again, hitting her square in the back. she bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood. she collapsed onto the floor and let out a scream, the pain finally catching up to her. spots of black danced in her vision. she thought she heard someone calling her name and laughed humorlessly. she didn't think she'd survive. she turned her eyes to the eternally black sky and smiled; " _i'm sorry i broke my promise... i'll be with you soon..."_ she mumbled. her eyes closed....   
**for a while, there was nothing. then... voices? she must be in the** afterlife. she groaned and opened her eyes slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she tried to sit up, only to feel a burst of pain shoot through her body. " _shit... am i in hell if i'm still in pain, or is heaven literal crap?"_ she mumbled. " _holy... you're alive!"_ someone exclaimed. the voice was very familiar, and callie was wrapped in a pair of arms seconds later. she looked to see who it was. " _prom? oh gods, please don't tell me you died too..."_ she said. " _cal, you aren't dead. you almost were, but luckily we were in the area. heard about a red giant terrorizing some hunters and we decided to take it down. found you half dead on the ground."_ he cracked a smile and pulled away from her. " _i'm glad you're alive. you were mumbling something about breaking your promise. what'd you mean by that?"_ callie shook her head. " _doesn't matter now, 'cause i didn't break it. i'm alive. that was my promise._ " she replied. a few moments later, the door opened and in walked the other two members of the part with a third, shorter figure. " _she awake yet?_ " she heard gladio ask. " _she has a name, jackass._ " callie replied immediately, smiling in the direction of the other three. " _oh, guess you are awake."_ came the reply from gladio. " _someone do me a favor and throw a pillow at him, please."_ she joked. the third figure seemed to be a bit nervous. " _hey, iris. kill any good monsters lately?_ "   
**for the next two weeks, callie spent her days in lestallum as she recovered** from her near death experience. she'd insisted on leaving for caem as soon as she was able to get out of bed, but ignis refused to let her leave due to the fact that she was, in fact, concussed and almost died because she was, and i quote " _being more reckless than she was the day of the battle in altissia_ ", which she had to admit was absolutely true. after two weeks of spending time with the others, though, something came up. that "something" being that callie was afraid to leave lestallum. being so close to death felt... oddly good to her. it was as if everything was finally getting better. she decided to tell the others what she was thinking. later that day, she sat down and admitted it; " _i'm scared to go back out on my own, because i feel like i'll end up putting myself back in a position where i can die. i don't know what else to do besides tell you guys what's going through my head right now."_ she then froze and blurted " _i need help..._ " and from that day on, there was an agreement. every two weeks, the four of them would meet up and go on a hunt together, for old time's sake and for the sake of their sanity. 

**_FIVE YEARS :_ **

**she didn't know how she was still alive, at this point. five years seemed a** long time to exist in pure darkness, especially for someone who feared the dark as much as calypso marketti had in her younger years. after five years of darkness, she was used to it. didn't mean she wasn't scared sometimes, but it didn't mean that she was scared out of her mind of it either. to her, darkness was natural now. it was as much a part of her life as light once was. she'd kept her promise to the others, but two weeks became too often. now, they met once a month for hunts. some tooks minutes, while others took a few days of tracking down the mark before closing in for the kill. but this had continued for two years. every time they met up, they'd talk about what they'd done since the last time they were all together, and things seemed almost normal. sometimes, they'd be joined by a familiar face- iris, monica, or (on _extremely_ rare occasions) cor were the most common guests on these hunts; however, there have been two or three very easy hunts where they'd agreed to let talcott come with them and watch (or help, since he was now the same age that iris was when she started going on hunts). this particular hunt was more challenging; it was just callie, prompto, gladio, and ignis this time. they'd heard about a braindrainer from a tipster in lestallum; apparently, many hunters had been lost trying to take this thing down. naturally, the four of them decided to go try their hand at murdering it to death. when they arrived at the spot where the daemon had last been spotted, it seemed to be injured. they approached carefully, weapons in hand. callie's eyes narrowed as she neared it. oh, how tempted she was to just throw her sword as hard as she possibly could. but no, she said she wasn't going to be reckless today. well, not _too reckless_ , that is.   
**the daemon turned in the direction of the group and began to float towards** them. callie, seeing this as a reason to charge in, took her opportunity to slice at the daemon's tentacles. she jumped out of the way as it sprayed an ice cloud towards the group. she remembered how these things fought; she remembered fighting a bunch of them after reentering costlemark tower once they'd gained the sealbreaker's key from ezma. she remembered the feeling of being lifted up in the air and squeezed until she couldn't breathe. she felt a tightening in her chest as the feeling of fear overtook her. _no. not again._ she thought, slashing as the demon with speed she didn't think she had in her. a quick dash to her left and a push off a rock allowed her to come down on the daemon from above, feeling her sword sink into its flesh. she whooped happily as she heard the daemon make a sound of protest. the others seemed to be faring just as well as she was. it was nice to work with the others sometimes; hunting on her own got boring after a while. it also helped to have someone watching her back while she watched out for them as well.   
**things were going well. _too well_. the next time callie dashed in to attack, she **wasn't quick enough. the braindrainer lashed out with a tentacle and grabbed her around her middle. it lifted her above the ground and began to squeeze. she tried to call for help, but felt the air drain from her lungs. for a second, she let herself get suffocated. it felt... _nice_ to not have to worry. she'd be dead in seconds if she didn't do something. she could just close her eyes and- **_no._** she couldn't do that. she'd made a promise; make that multiple promises. first, she'd promised the others that if she found herself in a situation where she could die, she would keep fighting and not let herself go down without a fight. second, she'd promised noctis that she'd be alive when he came back; she'd be there to welcome him back home. and most importantly, she'd made a promise to herself. she promised herself that she'd keep going. no matter how hard things got, she'd keep fighting until she died. that meant not giving in to the relief of being close to death, no matter how good it felt. at this thought, she began to thrash around in the daemons grip, attempting to move her arm enough to stab at the arm holding her. it was no use. she took a breath and continued to struggle, finding herself with spots once again dancing in front of her vision. they got bigger and bigger and bigger until.... **_bam!_** she was on the ground, sprawled on her back and breathing heavily while the daemon toppled backwards, away from her. she coughed and tried to sit up, groaning at the pain in her ribs. _"damn... forgot how hard those fuckers squeeze."_ she mumbled, laughing humorlessly.   
**" _good to see you didn't stop fighting. i was worried for a sec that you were done_** _for."_ gladio said, passing her a potion. she squeezed the bottle and sighed feeling relief almost immediately; she stood and stretched, rolling her eyes. " _takes more than one tentacle to take me down, no matter how solid of a grip it has. how'd you guys kill it anyway?"_ she wanted to know. " _spell bottle to the head. electricity. good aim, by the way ignis."_ prompto said. " _come now, it was nothing special._ " ignis replied. " _accept the compliment, man, or he's not gonna stop._ " callie said, laughing a bit. with that, the four headed back into lestallum for a well deserved meal and rest. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> part 3 of 3   
> dates: 7 years to 10 years + four endings

**_SEVEN YEARS :_ **

**times were hard. they had been for the past seven years, but it seemed to get** harder and harder by the day. a few months after the braindrainer incident, callie and the others were unable to meet up every month. it slipped to two months, three, four.... they were lucky if all four of them could find time to get together twice a year. she still saw them separately sometimes; she'd come across prompto during some of her trips to hammerhead, which usually led to the two of them taking on a hunt or two together. she'd met up with gladio and iris a few times for hunts as well, as iris was one of her favorite hunting partners (and of course, sometimes gladio insisted on going with them if it was a harder hunt; he didn't want either one of them to get hurt). she rarely saw ignis, but on the days she did, it was because she decided to go exploring some ruins and had run into him there, doing research of some sort to see if there were any clues as to when noctis was coming back.   
**yet again came time for the anniversary of noctis disappearing into the crystal** ; this year, callie visited the forgotten pool a few days earlier. she'd spoken to the sky as usual, about what had changed in the past year and how everyone was doing. she'd ended with her usual closing sentiment- " _i love you; please come back soon, i can't wait to see you again._ "- before leaving for caem again. she would normally go the day of, but this year she decided to do something different this year. she knew that when noctis came back, they'd have to retake the crown city in order to get the king to the citadel. she didn't know how long that would take, but she figured that going to insomnia to see what had become of the city in the last seven years would as good idea. she drove her bike right up to the blockade, then took her sword and cut through the chain holding the gates together. she then pushed the gates open and drove her bike right into the city, looking around cautiously to make sure she didn't get hurt. she parked her bike and climbed off; wide blue eyes caught on a daemon hovering less than twenty feet away. _a psychomancer_ , she recalled from the time that the group had gone to the large dungeons in balouve mines and steyliff grove all those years ago. it had taken the five of them a few minutes to kill. she shrugged, thinking that if she could get the jump on the creature it would be easy to kill. _oh, she was right._ she snuck up behind the daemon and thrust her sword into it, slicing down and ripping tentacles. she smirked as it fell to the ground, and she made quick work of dispatching the creature. as it dissolved, she spotted a pair of daggers clank to the ground. her eyes immediately locked on them and she stepped closer, eyes wide as she picked them up slowly. " _no...._ " she mumbled. she knew those daggers; she'd seen them carried around with pride by someone she was once friends with. _nyx ulric._ she couldn't help but scream at the thought. she always knew deep down that nyx had died in the fall of insomnia; having his daggers in her hands was a whole new thing. it was _proof_ that he was gone. that he'd died because the empire was greedy and wanted that damn crystal. she slipped the daggers into her belt and sighed. " _i'll the bastard for you, nyx. that's a promise."_ she mumbled. " _kill the bastard behind all this and avenge everyone who died because of it."_ with that, she left the city and drove herself back to cape caem, daggers now stored safely in the armiger. she narrowed her eyes as she entered her home. she looked up at the ceiling before heading to a window and looking out. " _nyx. luna. jared. ravus."_ she mumbled. " _i promise you guys that i'm gonna make sure your deaths weren't in vain. i swear on my life, i'll get my revenge, for both myself and for you."_

**_TEN YEARS : THE RETURN OF THE KING_ **

**three years had passed since callie had ventured into the crown city.** she was glad she did it, but was a bit scarred from the experience still. she thought about the experience quite often; the fact that so many daemons were just _in_ the city was scary. if she had to fight her way through them, she'd rather have help from the others than do it on her own. the day had started out like any other, and her normal routine began. until she got a call on her phone about twenty minutes into her daily meditation on top of the lighthouse. she jumped, startled out of her concentration. a familiar name flashed across the screen- " _talcott hester_ ". callie immediately picked up. " _hey kid, you ok? you only call me if you're in trouble. do you need me to come pick you up?"_ she asked. " _no, callie, i'm fine. but uh, you might wanna get to hammerhead and call the others. there's someone you might wanna see."_ the boy replied. " _tal, you're scaring me. what's going on?"_ callie felt her heart beating faster; it wasn't like talcott to dance around the point. " _he's back._ " was all that talcott said. and then, she covered her mouth to keep from crying out in happiness." _oh my gods...."_ she gasped. _"i-i'll call the others. see you there."_ she hung up and hit the "call" button in the group text that she had set up with the others years ago. immediately, she was connected to prompto. he seemed to be on alert today. " _hey guys. talcott just called me. he's got news."_ she said. " _spit it out callie, don't keep us waiting."_ gladio joked. _wait, gladio?_ " _yeah, it's not like we've got anything to do today other than listen to whatever news you have."_ prompto replied. " _he's back. talcott just told me. he's got him in his truck and they're heading to hammerhead."_ she said quickly, excitement barely contained. " _callie, we're already in hammerhead. we were all headed this way and met up; we were gonna call you once your meditation was done."_ ignis replied. " _oh. well uh... i'll be there soon. see you!"_ she hung up and dashed down the stairs so she could get to her home. she let out a whoop of happiness and grabbed her bag before climbing onto her bike and driving off for hammerhead. she got there after about an hour of driving.   
**she quite literally jumped off her bike when she saw that talcott's truck was** in the parking lot in hammerhead. and to her happiness, there they stood. her friends-no, _her family-_ together and whole for the first time in ten years. she rushed over, calling out to the group as she did. she watched as one of the figures turned and she smiled widely. _noctis._ she rushed towards him, immediately throwing her arms around his neck as she reached the man. " _holy shit, you're back. i missed you s-_ " she was cut off by a kiss from the man. " _i missed you too, callie."_ she rolled her eyes and laughed. " _impatient now are we, your majesty?"_ she teased. things fell back into step; the five of them reunited by a twist in fate. it had been too long since they were last together. _ten years too long._ but all good things must come to an end, and so did the happy reunion. the topic of retaking the city came up. callie's hand instinctively clenched, as if she were about to summon the daggers she had found from the armiger. after a quick change- _holy shit, she was wearing a kingsglaive uniform-_ and one last check in with the others at the outpost, the five set out for insomnia. they climbed into the truck, and callie was reminded of the last time they were all the in car together. the drive was quick- too quick. they stopped at a haven to rest before their big battle, and then they were off. 

**_ENDING ONE : STAND BY ME (SURVIVORS: CALLIE, NOCTIS, GLADIO, PROMPTO, IGNIS)_ **

**she'd made it; she'd fulfilled her destiny and changed what could've been an** awful fate for all involved. after being frozen on the floor and unable to help noctis defeat ardyn, she'd refused to let noct go back into the throne room alone. she'd followed him in and watched as he sat on the throne. he looked tired; she could sympathize. she'd stood down by the stairs, looking up at him with a smile for a moment. then, she'd climbed the stairs after him and stood at his side. she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. " _together."_ she mumbled. " _together._ " he agreed. he called out for the kings to come forth; callie closed her eyes and felt the energy she'd been storing up for years flow from the ring on her right hand. as the spectral weapons hit noctis, she didn't let go of his hand. contact couldn't be broken if this were to work the way she wanted it to. eventually, the last king came into view. _king regis._ callie smiled weakly as the sword came into contact with the man beside her. then... the energy from the ring that had gone to the chosen king fulfilled its purpose. she watched out the window, a smile on her face as she sun began to rise. " _you did it. you brought back the dawn._ " callie turned to noctis and smiled. " _it's over_." she had yet to let go of noctis's hand. she didn't plan on doing so anytime soon.   
**looking back on it ten years down the line, she was glad she never let go.** because now she had everything she ever wanted- her friends by her side, the love of her life with her forever and ever, two adorable kids... despite the rocky road to get to here, her life was happy, and she wouldn't want it any other way. she'd kept her promises; she'd kept fighting and come out victorious. she'd kept going no matter how tough things had gotten. she'd battled her daemons- literally and figuratively. now, looking over insomnia, standing stronger than it had before the fall, she was overcome with a sense of pride. she'd helped rebuild her home. she'd helped it rise from the ashes of the world of ruin, and now it was better than ever. _she_ was better than ever. she looked over to the man beside her, sitting in his throne like he had the day the sun rose for the first time in ten years. she reached out her hand and took his, squeezing lightly. " _i love you."_ **and she always would.** forever and ever. _the chosen king and the siphon queen, together at last._

**_ENDING TWO : LONG LIVE THE KING (SURVIVORS: NOCTIS, GLADIO, PROMPTO, IGNIS)_ **

**the battle was long and hard; after hearing how sure noctis seemed to** be about his upcoming sacrifice, callie absolutely _knew_ she couldn't let him go through with it. she'd made up her mind and knew what had to be done. she followed noctis back into the throne room, silently saying her goodbyes to the other three as she left. she figured at least one of them had an idea of what she was going to do. after all, they knew her better than almost anyone else. she was distracted, watching as the king sat down on his throne. she gave him a smile before heading to stand at his side. she grabbed his hand and smiled, squeezing it lightly. " _i love you..."_ she mumbled. she watching as he called the kings forward. energy flowed from her ring; she poured all of it into the man beside her, her emotions through the roof. after the sword of the father hit him, callie felt the last of the energy leave her body. in exchange for noctis's life being spared, her own would be taken. she sighed and felt her legs give out. she fell in front of the throne. noctis was almost immediately beside her, sitting her up and holding onto her. " _what'd you do, callie?"_ he asked. she gave him a soft smile and lifted her head. " _the prophecy required a sacrifice... i couldn't let insomnia go without a king. they need you more than they need me."_ she replied. " _why... why would you do that?"_ was all he asked. " _we sacrifice everything for those we love most..."_ callie shivered, strength draining from her body. she felt noctis press a kiss to her forehead. " _i love you callie. please, don't go... i need you here."_ " _i'm sorry, noct. it's too late."_ her eyes were glassy. " _i love you so much; you'll be an amazing king..._ " she drew in a breath, as if talking took a lot of effort. " _be strong, my love. you have the greatest friends in the world."_ " _don't leave me; i can't lose you too."_ he seemed to be on the verge of tears. " _noct, i'll always be with you..."_ she whispered. she was still after that. no amount of phoenix downs would revive her. calypso marketti was dead, reunited with her mother and father in the afterlife. the sun rose on eos for the first time in ten years. the shield, the sharpshooter, and the advisor entered the throne room expecting to see the king dead on the throne. instead, they found him on the floor, holding the woman who had given everything for the sake of the world. _her sacrifice would never be forgotten._

**_ENDING THREE : WALK TALL, MY FRIENDS (SURVIVORS: CALLIE, GLADIO, PROMPTO, IGNIS)_ **

**she'd been ready to give everything. she'd been prepared to release all the energy** she'd stored up over the last ten years just to save the life of the one person she loved more than anyone else in the universe. what she wasn't prepared for was being held back by prompto as noctis ascended the steps to the citadel alone. she wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, but she was held back as the doors slammed shut. then she was released and ran immediately towards the nearest daemon, because _damn_ was she pissed off. she launched herself at it, sword in hand. she let out a cry of rage as another daemon tried to attack her from the side. she sliced at it, taking off an appendage and watching with barely contained glee as it fell to the ground. but there were too many daemons. they'd be overwhelmed soon. as the daemons closed in, the group stood back to back, fending off attacks from all sides. " _are we doomed? pretty sure we're doomed!"_ prompto exclaimed. _"nice knowing you guys."_ gladio replied. they'd had this exchange a few times before, but this was the first time it truly felt as if it were the end. " _it was an honor to fight alongside you, gentlemen.''_ ignis added. " _no one i'd rather die fighting with. i love you guys."_ callie said, slicing at a daemon. she watched as a horde of red giants came towards them, closing in for the kill. then... _the sun rose on eos._ the daemons retreated into the darkness the emerged from, leaving the four exhausted warriors in the center of the courtyard. callie suddenly remembered what had happened. if the sun had come back, that meant.... _"no!"_ she yelled, sprinting towards the doors of the citadel. she pulled open the door with surprising strength. once it was open, she ran towards the throne room. her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. she tried to cry out, but the cry died in her throat. she choked out a sob, body shaking as she began to cry. the others came through the doors a few moments later. each of them seemed to have a similar reaction. prompto just froze, his normally energetic and happy persona dropping at the sight of his best friend impaled to the throne. gladio was at a loss for words; if noctis was dead, then... had he failed by letting the king die? had he succeeded because the world was saved? he wasn't sure. ignis couldn't see what had happened, but judging by the silence, he knew all he needed to. the prophecy of the chosen king had been fulfilled, and light returned to the world. _the world was safe, but their group had a hole too large to ever fill._

**_ENDING FOUR : IN THE END, WE ALL FALL (SURVIVORS: GLADIO, PROMPTO, IGNIS)_ **

**callie had lost hope that she'd survive to see the sunrise. she knew that** most likely, there would be a sacrifice that had to be made. she was hoping that sacrificing the energy she'd stored would be a sufficient sacrifice. if not, she knew that she'd either have to sacrifice herself, or noctis would have to die. neither of those situations were ideal. she followed noctis to the throne room, unable to let him go through with this on his own. she walked up to the throne beside him and took a seat on the arm. she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. " _whatever happens, i love you."_ she whispered. " _i love you too."_ was the reply from her king. she watched as he called the kings forward; energy began to flow from the ring, but it was happening too fast. too fast to control where it went or whether it would be transferred to the king. she began to panic, feeling her own life energy leaving her. she watched in horror as the sword of the father hit noctis in the heart and pinned him to the throne. the shaky exhale that left his lips would haunt her dreams forever, she thought. " _it's finally over."_ he mumbled, eyes closing for the last time. callie let out a scream, feeling the rest of the energy leave her body. she felt heavy, sluggish. however, she cracked a smile as she adjusted her position so that she sat next to the king. her eyes trailed lazily to the window, where sunlight began peeking in. " _we did it.... isn't the sunrise pretty?"_ she mumbled. then, she was still. the chosen king and the woman who would have been the siphon queen were gone, no longer on eos. they were together forever, finally at peace. as the sharpshooter, the shield, and the strategist entered the room, they were shocked to see not one, but two corpses. the hole in the group would never be mended. " _at... at least they're together...."_ prompto mumbled, a few tears falling. it was done. the world was saved, and light was restored. _but that night, the land of eos mourned for the loss of not one, but two heroes; the chosen king and the siphon "queen" would go down in history as the saviors of the world._


	4. Chapter 4 - BONUS ENDING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bonus ending my friend and i came up with while talking about the game; it's sort of our theory about what chapter 15 of the game is.

_**BONUS ENDING - IN THE END, WE ALL FALL (SURVIVORS: NONE)** _

**it was a hard battle fighting to the citadel; there were hundreds of** daemons blocking their path. it seemed as if the battle would never end. but it did, and the group of five made it to the citadel courtyard, where yet another battle took place. ifrit the infernian had come to try and murder them. all fine though; callie very much wanted to fight the god after everything he'd caused for her friends. plus fighting a god after ten years felt great. she very much wanted to punch all the astrals (except for shiva, bless that woman for being the only god who didn't make them do some insanely difficult task to gain her help) in the face and if she didn't get to punch ifrit, she was not gonna be very happy. which was exactly why she basically launched herself at the god as hard as she could, slicing with her sword at any place she could reach. after a moment of slashing and hacking, she had a bright idea. she pulled a vial from the armiger and stepped back. " _get back for a second, i have an idea!"_ she called. the others reacted quickly and stepped back as she launched a blizzaga at the god. and it did some pretty heavy damage. " _hell yeah! that's how it's done!"_ she called, a laugh spilling from her lips as she watched the others surge back towards ifrit. it was satisfying, oddly enough, to watch the fire god be hurt so badly by the element of the one he loved. callie could sense that the battle was soon coming to an end. she ran towards the god and swung her sword in a large arc; she put everything into the swing of the sword and let out a yell as she hit the god, jumping back when he roared in anger. a few seconds later, the air around her got cold. she knew that feeling anywhere; it meant shiva was on her way. the temperature hit near freezing as the goddess appeared and subdued the enraged infernian with a kiss. and then they were gone, vanished into thin air.

" _ **well that was... chilling."**_ **callie couldn't help but make a joke, a** smile playing on her lips as she did. she was met with various reactions from the others- a few groans, a chuckle, and a " _really dude? now of all times?_ " but hey, that was the normal reaction to her shitty puns before everything went down the drain. the group headed towards the doors of the citadel and walked inside, heading for the throne room. of course there were a few daemons around to harass them, but the nuisances were downed easily; after all, everything seems easy after you've just fought a god. the group headed to the throne room. but before they entered the room, they stopped outside the doors. " _prompto, can i see your photos?"_ noctis asked. " _uhh... yeah!"_ prompto sounded a little confused but handed over the album nonetheless. " _i just need one... to take with me."_ callie felt a twinge of sadness in herself. _he really thinks he's gonna die, doesn't he?_ she thought, looking around the room nervously. she expected to get attacked. " _oh, yeah... i get it. you can take whichever you like._ " it seemed a while before noctis had made his choice; every once in a while, one of them would interject with a memory about a specific photo. ultimately, noctis had ended up choosing the photo that they'd taken in caem before leaving for altissia. everyone together one last time before the world went to shit. " _now you can't beat that; the five of us together in one photo."_ gladio said. " _through it all, we had each other._ " ignis added. _"yeah... you know, i really do love you guys. i'm glad we met all those years ago..."_ callie replied, swiping at her eyes to get the tears that formed there out of the way. " _don't go getting all sentimental on us now, callie."_ prompto teased, then added " _you sure that's the one? no backsies."_ " _yeah."_ and with that, they headed into the throne room, ready to face whatever was waiting for them. 

**that just so happened to be.... _"what is that?!"_ prompto exclaimed, **pointing upwards. " _oh gods, i think i'm gonna be sick..."_ callie mumbled after looking up at the ceiling. she'd gone pale, for from chains above the throne hung bodies; king regis, lady lunafreya, and nyx ulric, to be specific. after a moment, a surge of anger filled her body as she turned to the man who'd caused all this. and there he was, in all his bastard glory. " _i'm afraid you're out of luck. the throne brings you here? it only sits on..."_ ardyn taunted. " _off my chair jester. the king sits there."_ noctis shot back. for once, callie had no desire to spit out a snarky reply of her own. ardyn simply laughed and replied " _oh noct... how long i have waited for this. longer than you could ever know. tonight, the dreams of the royal blood come to an end...."_ " _spite's all that's kept him going."_ gladio said, probably a bit shocked. " _talk about a grudge."_ prompto added at the same time as callie said " _wow, never thought i'd relate to a psychotic bastard."_ ignis had a different thought. " _ardyn sits the throne?"_ " _not for long. this is my ascension."_ noctis replied. and then... **_nothing_**. 

**when callie came back into consciousness, she was on the ground,** which was honestly pretty normal at this point in her life. she groaned and sat up, looking around and spotting the others in similar positions to herself. " _so... guess we don't get to partake in the final battle?"_ she asked. " _guess not. come on, noct is outside i think."_ prompto said. the four stood up and walked outside to see noctis standing in the courtyard. which meant... _oh fuck yeah, the bastard is dead!_ callie thought. they approached the king and stood, watching as he walked towards the steps. " _so... this is farewell."_ ignis started what would be the hardest conversation the five of them ever had. " _yeah. here we are."_ noctis said. he seemed... oddly confident considering he'd be walking towards his death. " _it's all you."_ gladio added. " _no turning back now."_ prompto said. " _what do you-"_ callie was cut off. " _prompto. gladio. ignis. callie... i leave it to you."_ noctis said finally. " _walk tall, my friends."_ _"godspeed... and take care, majesty."_ ignis replied; noctis turned to walk inside. callie tried to step forward and follow him, but felt herself pulled back and held in place. " _don't.... no! let go of me!"_ she exclaimed, trying to free herself. " _i can help him. please, let go!"_ it was no use. whoever was holding her in place wasn't going to let go. the doors to the citadel closed with a resounding thud. and after that, she was let go. she whirled on whoever was holding her back only to have her attention brought elsewhere. _daemons._ in seconds, her sword was in her hand. 

**she fought as if she had nothing to lose. which, if things went south...** was definitely going to be true. her sword was in her hand on second and lodged in the throat of a daemon the next. alternating between her sword and her scythe depending on the situation, callie took down just about anything that came her way. eventually, she was back to back with the others, fighting as they had many times before over the last ten years. " _are we doomed? pretty sure we're doomed!"_ prompto's voice didn't have its usual chipper tone to it. instead, he sounded almost resigned. " _nice knowing you guys."_ gladio sounded almost sad as he said this. " _it's been an honor to fight by your side."_ oh no, not ignis too! " _ditto; there's no one i'd rather fight alongside. i love you guys."_ callie managed to choke out, almost overcome with emotion. suddenly, things went from bad to worse. they'd managed to push back the daemons a bit when a scream echoed through the courtyard. callie whipped her head around to see... _"prompto!"_ she was terrified. this was beyond her worst nightmares. prompto had been hit by a daemon with a fire spell and was on the ground, trying to put himself out. it was no use though; he'd been burned too badly; callie watched in horror and tried her best to comfort him, but it was no use. soon, he was still on the ground, lifeless. she found herself screaming. " _prompto! no no no no no! please no!"_ " _callie, does prompto need healing?"_ ignis called from across the battlefield. " _i-it's a little late for that...."_ callie called back, forcing herself to look away. 

**" _what do you mean by that, cal?"_ gladio asked from where he was fighting **a red giant. " _exactly what it sounds like!"_ she yelled back, taking the head off of a goblin with her scythe. her movements had changed from fluid and smooth to erratic and jagged. she could feel herself shaking as she fought, trying desperately to clear her mind of the horrific images she'd just seen. it was situations like this she envied ignis for not being able to see anymore. she heard a what sounded like the clash of metal on metal and turned to see yet another thing she wished she could unsee. because a red giant had swung its sword hard and slammed into the sword gladio had raised to block the attack. it seemed after years and years, the sword's blade had enough and shattered under the weight of the attack. shrapnel had cut into the shield's chest and taken him down. callie couldn't help the scream that once again tore past her lips as she raced over. but it was too late. another one of her friends gone just like that. " _you still with me iggy?"_ she called, hoping that at least one of the others was alive to help her. " _yes, i'm still here. what do you mean? are prompto and gladio alright?"_ was the reply she was met with. " _they're... they're gone. it's just us left. i'm sorry. i should've been able to protect them...."_ it was tearing her apart that they'd died when she could've been watching their backs. " _don't blame yourself. there's nothing you could've done. it seems this day means to fell us all."_ well that's one grim outlook, but yeah that would make sense. " _please don't die on me iggy. i can't lose anyone else."_ she mumbled, feeling something poke at her stomach. she brushed it off as her clothing getting caught on something and kept fighting. 

**her arms were starting to grow tired, but she couldn't stop fighting. if she** stopped for even a split second, she'd be dead where she stood. so she pushed through, fighting with a barely concealed gleam in her eye. she wanted the daemons _dead._ they'd taken too much from her over the last ten years. her eyes were narrowed and red as she sliced through anything that came near her. the swing of her sword or her scythe was like a beautiful and terribly dangerous dance. stay far away from it and it was amazing to watch, but venture too close and you'd find yourself in danger. once she'd plowed through the enemies around her, things seemed far too quiet for her taste. she turned around, only to let out yet another scream as a sir tonberry pounced on ignis from behind, bringing the sword of purple light down on him and knocking him to the ground. she ran over, swinging her scythe wildly in an attempt to get the tonberry away. but again, she was too late. in a matter of minutes, _all_ _her friends were gone_. she turned to face the remaining daemons, only to see a few stray goblins left. she dispatched them with ease, looking up at the walls around her to see if anything else was coming to attack her. but to her shock, the sun began to rise. she pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the sob that came up, her eyes wet with tears. _it was done._ if the sun was back, that meant noctis had succeeded. it meant... _noctis!_ she looked over the courtyard one last time, seeing the mangled and lifeless bodies of her closest friends. she didn't look back as she dashed inside, not paying any mind to where she was going. her body was on autopilot as she wrenched open the doors to the throne room. 

**her heart just about broke when she entered the throne room. on the throne** was noctis, but not as she knew him. his body was lifeless, his father's sword impaled in his chest. she couldn't help it when she started crying. there was nothing she could do. she was alone. she felt utterly _helpless._ she walked towards the throne as if she were in a trance. the gods truly were cruel. in fact.... " _fuck you! fuck you and your fucking prophecy! if you'd owned up to your mistakes in the first place this wouldn't have happened! you wouldn't have ruined countless lives you immortal idiots!"_ she screamed, her voice raw from the sheer amount of screaming she'd done in the last few minutes. " _why.... why couldn't you all have lived? why'd you leave me alone?"_ she asked aloud, feeling completely lost. " _i don't know what i'm gonna do without you guys... please, don't leave me..."_ her voice was barely even audible to herself. she stood in front of the throne, looking anywhere but at noctis. a few moments later, she gasped. she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. looking down, she saw blood. lots of it. _"when the hell did i get.... oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me. adrenaline is one hell of a painkiller indeed..."_ she mumbled, almost laughing at the thought. ten years ago when she'd arrived in galdin and met the others, she'd said the same exact thing about a gunshot wound to her shoulder. she collapsed onto the ground, not bothering to fight any longer. " _you win."_ she spat as she laid on the ground. " _you win, you sick motherfuckers. you killed my friends, you killed the love of my life, and now you killed me. i'm done fighting for you, i'm done fighting you, i'm done fighting **period**." _her voice was laced with venom. she looked up and smiled weakly. " _at least i won't be alone anymore..."_ was the last thing she said. then... _all was dark._

" ** _told you she'd meet us here. strong as she is, i don't think anyone would wanna_** _keep_ _fighting after the hell we went through."_ someone was talking and their voice was familiar. she could tell that much. " _dude, were you really banking on the fact that callie was gonna die?"_ another voice, this one was also familiar. she fought for a moment, struggling to open her eyes. when she finally did, she was.... _at a haven? what the..._ she looked around for a moment, trying to regain her bearings when she spotted four very familiar faces standing nearby. " _i'm gonna ask this one more time- am i in hell? am i actually dead this time?"_ she was met with a laugh. " _i don't think it's hell if we're together."_ she heard prompto say. that made her laugh. she stood up and walked over to the group, then looked at all over them and then herself. " _i was gonna make a joke about how it must be hell since gladio is here, but i'm more confused. where are we and why are we young again?"_ she asked. " _haha, missed you too kid."_ gladio replied sarcastically. she stuck her tongue out at the shield and rolled her eyes. " _seriously though. what the hell happened?"_ " _we're in the afterlife, i presume. we all died to reclaim the city. i guess it's only fair that the gods grant us the rest of time together."_ ignis supplied. " _ah. why are we in the past then?"_ callie was still confused about that. " _my guess is it's when we were all happiest. this journey brought us all closer together. it may have been hellish at times, but.... at least we were together, right?."_ " _prompto, i think that's actually the most eloquent thing i've ever heard you say."_ callie was shocked he'd worded it so well. " _i'd say that's exactly what happened."_ ignis added. " _awesome. well, we've got more stuff to explore. come on, you guys! we've even got the regalia back!"_ prompto sounded so excited. the sharpshooter, the shield, and the advisor headed off towards the car, leaving the king and the siphon standing together. 

" _ **so.... are you sure we have time to just explore everything again? i** don't wanna have to rush anywhere later on." _noctis said. he put his arm around callie's shoulder and she smiled widely, the first true smile she'd mustered since before the world went to shit. " _noctis, we're dead. we're in the afterlife, what do you think?"_ she teased. " _you know what i mean, callie. is this just some dream and we're running on borrowed time?"_ " _well, i'll put it this way."_ callie stepped forward and turned to face him. " _we've got each other. time means nothing in the afterlife. **we've got eternity now."**_

**and with that, all was "right" in the world. the royal retinue** **was reunited** forever and ever. though they're lives were lost to reclaim what had been taken from them so long ago, their sacrifices would never be forgotten. their names would go down in history, passed down from generation to generation. people may not have known them personally, but their stories would be forever remembered. thanks to them, light was restored and eos was finally at peace. _the sharpshooter, the shield, the advisor, the siphon, and the king of light- heroes of legend; gone, but never forgotten._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! so i came up with this with a friend a few nights ago and uh,, it's been on my mind for a long time. 
> 
> basically it's based on the idea that chapter 15 is the afterlife, which thinking about it makes a lot of sense tbh. like,,, they're all in their twenties again and time doesn't seem to pass. which also means that if we assume that, it means ALL the guys died because they're with noct in chapter 15. so basically, this is just me writing as much angst as humanly possible because i have too many thoughts about this idea.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i published this originally on quotev, but decided i want to publish it here as well. if you've read this on q, you know it's in one long journal entry that i published and said journal entry is 21.5 pages long. i'm splitting it up into smaller chunks here. hope you enjoyed, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments. i'll be posting things about my oc, like the lore behind her abilities because i created her with the possibility of an everyone lives au in mind. 
> 
> thanks for reading!  
> \- kay


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